New Cryptocurrency carVertical Kicks Off ICO Today

A new niche cryptocurrency is being launched via an initial coin offering (ICO) today, and it’s called carVertical. As you can probably imagine, this blockchain-based digital currency has everything to do with cars – and actually tries to tackle a real-life problem in the consumer automotive industry.

According to the police in Germany, about one in every three vehicles has been on the receiving end of what is called “odometer fraud.” On top of that, Forbes says that odometer fraud – which simply means altering the mileage readings on a car to give the appearance of a less-driven vehicle – costs American consumers about $1.0 billion per year.

Car values are misleadingly inflated when people mess with the odometers – and carVertical is seeking to change that. Especially with used car purchases trending upward lately, more and more consumers are going to be affected by these types of illegal activities.

This new blockchain-based platform accumulates as much data on a car’s history as it can, and pulls information from a wide variety of sources, including: centralized governmental databases in different countries, police records, insurance companies, etc.

The global auto registry project will, according to the company, eventually have a feature where people can give their permission to access all their car’s data. It’s going to be a global system, and all the information cannot be altered or manipulated in any way.

Should I Participate in carVertical’s ICO?

CarVertical won’t be heading to the US anytime soon, unfortunately, as the platform is being launched in four European markets initially. The rollout in other markets will take place over a five-year period.

No need to panic about participating in the ICO early, either – the sale doesn’t end until April 5, 2018. After that, it will take between 6 and 16 weeks for the tokens to hit cryptocurrency exchanges. I should also mention that early buyers in the beginning weeks of the ICO will get a pretty sizeable bonus.

Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.

Tim is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles, where he has a B.A. in Global Studies with a minor in Geography/Environmental Studies. He worked for nearly two years as a Research Associate at a top investment banking software provider. He then began working as a freelance writer, covering stock market news and writing corporate content. He has been investing in and researching cryptocurrency for about a year, and has been blogging almost daily on the topic since mid-2017. Tim has contributed to both LiveBitcoinNews.com and CCN.com.